Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-06-03
We OLDEN NIMES.
IN Interesting Paper Read at a Hee0'"v
Anniversary i,s Wilmington, DOL

In Interesting Paper he0o ut (" ""
Anniversary in Wilmington, Do.
When [ was q small boy wooden
trenchers went out of fashion and
pewter plates took their place; soup
and mush were put on the table in large
novter dishes. In winter we had mush
and milk for supper, and for breakfast
cold mush cut up and boiled milk
poured over it, sometimes buckwheat
cakes or bread toasted and put in milk.
We always had rye bread, mostly one
loaf of wheat bread for strangers and
one or two wheat pies. For dinner we
had beef, pork, and vegetables. The
farmers sailed enough meat in the fall
to do through the year, as there we're
no wagons carrying meat in those days.
About 1911, whom I commenced to
work on the farm, plows with heavy
wooden mole boards and heavy beams
and handles carrying great quantities
of dirt we're used. In harvest all the
grain was cut with sickles. You could
often see forty hands in one field, the
women helping. In one notable case
farmer always employed fiddler to in
spire the men. All tradesmen-ma-
sons, carpenters, wheelwrights, millers,
etc, turned out to help. Some farmers
had cradles but did not like to cut rye
and wheat with them, as it "shook out
the grain too much" There were no
horserakes, no moving machines, no
hayforks.
I was 1G years old before saw o
one-horse carriage or one-horse farm
wagon. There was atwo-wheeled chair
and gig for one horse that two persons
could ride in, but most all men and
women went on horseback.
Every farmer had flax patch. The
flax was pulled mostly 10y company
Of girls. It was threshed, spread out
on some level field to rot the stock,
then taken to what WIGS called the flax
hole "a place dug out in abank--a place
to put fire in, with rails three feet
above the fire, on which to spread the
flax to heat it to break;) then We had a
heckle to take the seed ends off. In
the evenings we had stick to spin a
rope out of tho heckle tow to tie up the
fax we had to break through the day.
The flax was then taken to the swing
ling board and there scutched. The
tow was put by to wrap eggs in to send
to market. The coarse tow was spun
for everyday pants and coarse sheets;
the finer tow was spun for finer wear.
ing apparel; the flax was spun for finer
sheets and for shirts and for girls
dresses. The girls in those days had
spinning-whecls and went around spin
ming. Girls made their own dresses
mean farmers daughters. The fine
tow yarn was made with copperas
stripe for finer pants for boys and for
aprons and other garments. forgot to
say that all this fax and tow yarn be.
fore sending to the weaver had to be
boiled in ashes and water, then taker
to the creek and we'll washed, ther
dried and rubbed to make it soft and
pliable. When the shifting, linen, and
the sheeting was brought from the
weavers it was cut in long pieces and
spread on some level piece of ground
aud fastened. It was wet every hall
hour, or as often as it was dry to bleacl
it. At night it was taken up and put
into strong lye.
Men generally wore buckskin
breeches. Some wore buokskin pants.
When they got very wet they were hard
to take of. There were two kinds Of
hats-wool and beaver fur hats Old
men wore boots or shoes with heavy
silver buckles and silver knee buckles.
In winter girls wore for every day
1insey petticoats and short gowns; for
best frocks, homemade flannel was
used. In the fall of the year the shoe
makers went around from house to
house and made the shoes, the farmers
finding the leather.
There were no carpets on the floors
the parlor floor, in place of carpet,
was sprinkled with clean sand after the
floor was scrubbed. We had no win
dow certains anywhere, nor window
shutters up stairs.
Heavy template stoves were used
too heavy to move without taking apart,
All the cooking was done in Fireplace
over wood fire. Almost every farmer
had bake-oven built out from the
house. Those having no such conve-
nience would do up the bread dough at
home, tie it up in table cloth, put it
into cart with some wood, then away
to neighbours oven and stay lone
enough to do up the baking. There
were no washboards or washing ma
chimes of any description.
LINCOLN At THE VAR DEPARTMENT.
From "Recollections of Secretary
Stanton" by a clerk of the War De-
partment, in the Century, we quote as
follows: I'm the days of which 1 write
Mr. Lincoln was particularly woc-be-
zone fiunra II ,,,o, $50. - \,